How To Boost Your Metabolism

Losing weight isn’t easy. In fact, it’s one of the hardest things to do for some people. They try all sorts of diets and promise to go to the gym, but to no avail. Others, on the other hand, eat all the junk food that they want and never seem to gain a pound. What are we missing here? It’s all about metabolism. You may be slow now, but there are many ways to boost your metabolism so that you can lose weight. Here are several ways:

Tip 1: Build up your muscle

Whether you’re lean or a bit on the chubby side, your body burns calories even when you’re not doing anything. However, your resting metabolism would burn additional calories if you’re packed with more muscle. Here are the facts: a pound of muscle burns 2 calories per day, while a pound of muscle consumes as much as 6 calories per day. If you have over 40 pounds of muscle in your body, then you’re burning at least 240 calories per day. Develop muscle and you burn even more calories.

Tip 2: Intensify your cardio

Aerobic workouts are good for you, but if you want to further boost your metabolism, add intervals of more intense exercise in between. For instance, if you jog or bike, intersperse all-out bursts of speed in between your slower pace. Begin with intense effort for 30 seconds, and then slow down for a minute and a half. Repeat this cycle around nine to ten times (adding up to around 20 minutes). This will burn calories even hours after your workout.

Tip 3: Take small, frequent snacks

Fact: eating more often speeds up metabolism. Yes, it’s odd, but it works. That’s because your metabolism is stimulated when you eat. Eating heavy meals with long stretches in between slows down your metabolism. For best results, eat every three hours—this adds up to three meals and two snacks. Doing this also causes you to eat less during meal times. Take note, however, that you should also eat right by having healthy foods.

Tip 4: Drink more water

Water is necessary in digesting and processing calories. Aside from getting dehydrated, not drinking enough water would slow down your metabolism. Make sure you drink around two to three liters of water on regular days and more as your activity increases. For better hydration of your body, drink water before every snack or meal.

Tip 5: Take protein during breakfast

Stay away from carbohydrates especially during breakfast—this will slow down your metabolic rate. If you want get a metabolism boost, eat protein-rich foods like chicken breast, turkey, eggs, lean beef, beans and tofu. Why? Your body burns twice more calories when digesting protein than digesting carbohydrates. Do this during breakfast and you’re less likely to consume calories for the day.

Tip 6: Eat fish

You probably already know that eating fish is good for you, but did you know that omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish oil, can significantly increase your metabolism? Omega-3 fatty acids like EPA and DHA work as a metabolic fuel partitioner. You can also take supplements, but that takes out the fun of eating fish.

Tip 7: Do the small stuff

You can also do small things that would provide little boosts to your metabolism. For instance, you can eat spicy foods, which come with chemical compounds that can increase your metabolic rate. Black coffee, energy drinks and green tea, when drank in moderation, can also provide the same effects.